Jacob 4:10 "Wherefore, brethern, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works."

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Last weekend we heard that an original copy of the Declaration of Independence was going to be at our state capital, so on Saturday, we headed down for a quick look. Apparently there are only 25 copies left out of 500-1,000 that were originally printed in 1776 (quick history trivia for you!). Well, seeing the actual document certainly was quick (we had just enough time to take a picture and look over it) while the line was anything but! From the time we got in line to when we were finished looking at the Declaration, it was just under four hours. Yes, we know, that pretty much puts us in the nerd department. And Ella? She was fabulous! We took turns for the first little while taking her for walks around the capital and got to see where the Supreme Court meets, where the Utah House of Representatives meets, and a few other places. In one hallway, there were some stone busts of a few past politicians and they reminded Ella of a few weeks ago when we were at the church conference center and saw the busts of the prophets. She pointed to Lincoln's bust and goes, "Look mom! A prophet!" After Ella explored much of the capital building, she was tired of wandering around and decided she wanted to wait in line. Of course, we did not come prepared with a coloring book and crayons (perhaps it would be a wise idea to keep and emergency set in the car.....) but Mom happened to have a pad of paper and a pen in her purse. So we played pictionary for a good portion of the time, and then during our last 20 minutes or so of waiting, they provided us with a sheet of paper that had pictures of different items in the capital on it. The search game was fun to play, but it would have been a little nicer to have it at the beginning of the line! Anyway, we finally got to see it! And when we got back in the car, Ella gave a sigh and said, "Wow, for a minute, I thought we were going to stay there forever!" She behaved so well (a perfect angel compared to the behavior some of the older kids and young teenagers were displaying) with so few complaints that we decided to take her out for some dinner as a treat. We were headed to Applebee's and then she saw a McDonald's playland on the way and changed her mind! We gave in because she had been so good and made it through cold french fries and room-temperature hamburgers. To treat Mom and Dad for putting up with McDonald's we went to Coldstone's Creamery! Yummy! It was quite the day! Well, other than all of that, we are counting down the days till we start school (Mom on the 25th and Ella on the 29th) and of course counting down the weeks till our due date (much to Mom's dismay, we are not quite at days yet). Mom and Dad are finally realizing that it's really going to happen, and Ella keeps asking WHEN it's going to happen! And she is still quite insistent that the next one be a girl so she can have a sister. Yikes! Once Mom and Dad are able to experience this whole labor process, we'll decide how soon we'll have another one. 5 years, 10 years, or never! So this last picture added to the blog is Ella and the first sign of "regression" she's shown so far. She found the baby bottles and wanted to drink from one. Well, Mom wanted to tell her to forget it, but she had just finished an article a few weeks earlier that said that it was okay to let them regress a little. The article promised they would get bored soon enough, decide that being a big kid was better, and move on. So Mom decided to try it, filled the bottle with water, and gave it to her. Ella quickly realized that the hole at the top was extremely small and it wasn't easy to get the water out! Less than ten minutes later, she decided it was too much work and tossed the bottle in the sink! Don't forget to check out our baby's development for this week (31 weeks as of 8/18) and our new book of the month called, "I Am a Mother."

Cartoon of the Month

I think this is what Brock and Miri secretly pray for...

"Ella-isms"

Me, "How did your window break?" Ella, "I was trying to show my friends how strong my head is." Me, "I see. And what were your friends doing?" Ella, "Hiding their eyes. They knew it was going to end badly."

Ella, "How about this mom, I'll share my bouncy ball with Miri and then you can give me your twix bar." Me, "Hmmmm. I'm not sure how this works out for me."

Ella, "Mom, why do we have to get up so early?" Me, "Because if we don't, you'll be late for school." Response, "That's fine with me!"

While on a marching band trip with me, but sitting in the back with some of the bigger kids, "MOM! Kaitlyn has to go potty! I think she needs a jar!" And then the whole bus errupts into laughter and I hide my face in shame.

While getting ready to go out with Chad on our date night, Ella requested that one of our topics of discussion include having more children. But a girl of course, not a boy.

"Mom, Dad doesn't have to do what you say. He has to do what I say because I've known him longer. So I win."

We were babysitting for some friends and their son, Lucas, kept running over to Ella and giving her giant hugs. We would laugh ever time and finally I said, "Wow! He must really love you!" Ella just shrugged and said, "I'm just really good with kids!"

Ella: "Mom, how old were you when Dad took you to prom?" Me: "Um, dad didn't take me to his prom since I was only 7 when he went to his prom." Ella: "Wow. He's old."

I walk into my and Chad's room and I see Ella taping a drawing up on our closet door. So I ask, "What are you doing?" And the reply, "Posting a no-kissing sign. This is a no-kissing zone."

Me: "It's good for you to see mom and dad kiss every now and then. It assures you that we love each other, gives you a sense of security, and-" Ella: "Yeah, it assures me I'm going to be sick!"

Brock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

Brock, "Rawr! Were you scared? Tell me honestly."

You know those moms who avoid meeting your eye in the grocery store several days after halloween because her kid is still wearing his halloween costume? Yeah, that was me with a mini Buzz lightyear helping me shop.

When in his room for a nap or bed, if he hears the front door open at all, her goes over to his desk, climbs on top, and pokes his head underneath the blinds so that he can observe any possible comings and goings.

When he decides that his sisters are having way too much fun without him, Brock will carefully approach, get as close to them as possible and shout as loud as he can, "GUYS!!!!!!"